Founder

Grace Dee Macauley

I was born and raised in Melbourne. In July 2014 I completed a Bachelor of International Development at La Trobe University in Melbourne. This degree motivated me to complete an internship at womens empowerment NGO, Sambhali Trust in Northern India in 2015.

My inspiration for ORA began during my six months at Sambhali Trust. While there I taught English and Sewing to an incredible group of women and girls and I was inspired by the beauty and spirit of all the women I was lucky enough to meet. Most of them were from the Dalit community of Jodphur (the lowest caste), meaning they were invariably subjected to a life of subordination and inequality. But I could see that this had not broken their spirit to learn, grow and prosper as individuals and as women.

Their talent for sewing and embroidery was remarkable and I wanted more people to appreciate the extraordinary work they were doing. Like many people I know, my personal weakness has always been for shopping. But when I returned to Australia and began researching the fashion industry I saw the true story behind many of the clothes we wear.

With ORA I want to take people on a journey: to reconnect wearers to makers and to inspire buyers to value the craft of each item. Finally, by keeping prices affordable I hope to also reach as wide an audience as possible, so that we can all appreciate wearing a garment whose story we know.

Designer

Erika Russo

Erika is one of Melbourne’s emerging fashion designers. After completing a Bachelor (Honors) of Fashion Design at RMIT University in 2015, she has undertaken numerous collaborations and in 2016 Erika created her own label, E.I.R Design. E.I.R’s most recent collection, Botanica draws visually from Australia’s natural landscape and pragmatically from our love of practical clothing. Through creating beautiful pieces, E.I.R hopes to provide alluring alternatives to mass-made, poor quality garments that are in abundance within the Australian market.

Erika and Founder Grace have known each other for over ten years and work collaboratively in developing ORA’s comfortable, simple and unique garments. Together, Erika and Grace aim to create timeless pieces for customers who wish to know the journey of their product.

www.eirlocaldesign.com

Photographer

Emily Weaving

Emily Weaving is a Melbourne-based lifestyle, interiors, food and travel photographer. She has developed a unique artistic style through her thoughtful compositions. While allowing the true character of the subject to be the main focus of her work, she integrates clean lines, space and light into her images.

Emily has worked in collaboration with ORA since its debut in 2015. In early 2017, Emily and Founder Grace ventured to India to visit and photographically document the journey of ORA's clothes - from seed to garment. Emily’s beautiful nature, passion for social change and incredible talent behind the lens has been an invaluable part of ORA's journey.